1 October 2014 (Wednesday)

Today was the first meeting of the Fall Quarter. Wow, basically 4 months since the last class! I was very much looking forward to finally doing the class again!

I knew many of the students from last year have returned home so I was curious to see how many would return again and how many new students would show up. Today 2 students from last year came plus 8 new students.

I introduced how the class works and asked each student to introduce themselves with their name, where they are from and what kind of music they like.

Then we started to share some songs we like!

The first song was chosen by one of the returning students. I asked what her song of the summer was and she said is was "Do Life Big" (video, lyrics, song info) by Jamie Grace (info). She had heard it for the first time at a friend's house and immediately loved it; it made her feel happy and energized. I agree, this is a great summer song, a great song to listen to in the car while driving around.

The next clip was chosen by the other returning student. It wasn't exactly a song, rather the film trailer to a movie he had seen which was about an indie band: "Frank" (video, film info). He said the movie is actually better than the clip and the music is good in it, too.

Now we moved to a song chosen by a new student. She chose "Counting Stars" (video, lyrics, song info) by OneRepublic (info). The student had heard this song the first time last Christmas in California. She likes how it's about struggles and dreams. I think this is also a good summer song for listening to while driving :-)

The next song was "Heal The World" (video, lyrics, song info) by Michael Jackson (info). The student who chose it says this is his favorite Michael Jackson song. I asked the class if it's possible for humanity to "heal the world" but while everyone said yes, it's possible, it's not clear how to achieve that goal. Ah, and therein lies an age-old conundrum.

The next song chosen was "Shape Of My Heart" (video, lyrics, song info) by Sting (info), which I must admit is one of my favorite songs, so I was happy to hear it. The student who chose it knows it from the movie "Leon" (info), which most of the class is familiar with but I have never heard of. (I have to warm my classes every year that I am not a movie guy so there are many movies and actors/actresses who I am not familiar with.)

"Shape Of My Heart" musically always reminds me of another Sting song: "Mad About You" (video with lyrics, song info). Both songs have a melancholy to them. I explained the meaning of the word "longing" to describe "Mad About You".

[Note that to be "mad about someone" means you are crazy about them in a positive way, like to be in love with them. To be "mad at someone" means you are angry at them. Just one preposition makes a big difference in these two similar sentences!]

The last song of the day was "Riverside" (video, lyrics, song info) by Agnes Obel (info). Again, this is one of my favorite songs! (Looks like I will enjoy the music chosen by the class this quarter!) The student who chose this song likes her voice and the piano, even if it's a sad song. I really love her singing on this song. Her voice sounds so "round" to me.

As I was writing this blog I read that "Riverside" was used in the very popular TV drama "Grey's Anatomy" (info) which is set in a hospital in Seattle. Here's the clip with "Riverside" in the background.


With that the first class of the new school year was over. Next week's theme is simply "The songs you have been listening to the most in the past week" so that I can learn more about what kind of music the students like. Of course, as always, any song for any reason is welcome.